Epictetus quotes page 2

Refrain from trying to win other people's approval and admiration. You are taking a
higher
road.Epictetus

Desire and aversion, though powerful, are but habits. And we can train ourselves to have
better habits. Restrain the habit of being repelled by all those things that aren't within your
control, and focus instead on combating things within your power that are not good for you.Epictetus

It is incumbent that your thoughts, words, and deeds match up. This is a higher standard
than held by the mob.Epictetus

Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you
permit yourself to be disturbed by him.Epictetus

It is better to die of hunger having lived without grief and fear, than to live with a troubled
spirit, amid abundance.Epictetus

Difficulty shows what men are. Therefore when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that
God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man. Why? So that you
may become an Olympic conqueror; but it is not accomplished without sweat.Epictetus

The virtous life depends on reason first and foremost. If you safeguard your reason, it will
safeguard you.Epictetus

Make it your regular habit to consider your roles - parent, child, neighbor, citizen, leader -
and the natural duties that arise from them. Once you know who you are and to whom you
are linked, you will know what to do.Epictetus

Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but
flatterers mar the soul of the living, and her eyes they blind.Epictetus

Remember: You will never earn the same rewards as others without employing the same
methods and investment of time as they do. It is unreasonable to think we can earn rewards
without being willing to pay their true price.Epictetus

One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most
excellent.Epictetus

Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as
much as we speak.Epictetus

Whatever you would make habitual, practice it; and if you would not make a thing habitual,
do not practice it, but accustom yourself to something else.Epictetus

Most people tend to delude themselves into thinking that freedom comes from doing what
feels good or what fosters comfort and ease. The truth is that people who subordinate
reason to their feelings of the moment are actually slaves of their desires and aversions.Epictetus

View yourself as a citizen of a worldwide community and act accordingly.Epictetus

Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do.
Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you.Epictetus